Application

The letter of motivation (approximately 600 words) is one of the most important elements of your application. It should elaborate on your study intentions as well as your professional intentions, and it should very clearly convey your motivation for the program. Rather than elaborating only on your personal biography or making abstract statements, we recommend focusing on clear and specific reasons for your application, for example by highlighting the links between your academic background as well as your non-academic experiences and the GSP curriculum. You can also include work experience, internships, volunteering, independent projects, etc.

Please include a word count at the end of the document. For inspiration, here are some guiding questions for your motivation letter:

• Why do you want to participate in a Social Sciences programme with a global
  orientation?
• How do you relate to one or more disciplines that are part of GSP?
• How do your experiences (work, study, volunteering, stays abroad etc.) relate to GSP and its curriculum?
• What makes you want to study in an interdisciplinary and international programme?
• What academic questions do you want to pursue in relation to GSP?
• Which issues/problems/questions incite an academic passion in you?
• What achievement or experience do you think makes you particularly suitable for GSP?
• Why would GSP enrich your academic career?
• What goals do you have that GSP can help you achieve?

Your CV should provide a summary of your past experiences, academic and non-academic. Next to your studies, your international experience, internships and volunteer work are important and will be considered by the selection committee. If some of your past internships, projects, activities etc. have a specific connection to GSP components, they can be highlighted in your motivation letter, and/or you can submit additional certificates thereof. Please only include additional certificates if they are specifically relevant to the Global Studies Programme and its components.

You have the following options to prove your English language proficiency.

Please indicate the relevant option for you in the online application.

• native English speaker: If you have the nationality of an English-speaking country or a country where English is the official language, you do not need to provide further proof.
• a degree from an English-speaking university/study programme (English as medium of instruction): You will need to provide proof through your diploma supplement, your Transcript of Records or a certified letter by the examination office of your undergraduate programme (a statement by a professor is not sufficient).
• a language certificate from the list below: The minimum requirement for admission is level B2 (CEFR). Applicants should however aim to have an English proficiency equivalent to the level C1 (CEFR) in order to successfully participate in GSP. Please have the testing institution send an original score sheet to the GSP Office or submit a certified copy of your scores. Minimum test scores for B2:
  • Cambridge Certificate: FCE, CAE or CPE
  • IELTS: min. 5.5 points
  • PTE Academic: min. 59 points
  • TOEFL: min. 72 points (previous iBT), 4.0 points (new iBT as of January 2026), 5.0 points (Essentials). All TOEFL tests must not be older than two years.
  • OOPT: min. 60 points
  • telc B2
  • TOEIC (min. 785 points in reading/listening, 160 points in speaking, and 150 points in writing)
  • UNIcert II or III
• In special cases, we can accept other equivalent certificates, such as a university entrance qualification from an anglophone country, an IB diploma of an anglophone school, or a German/Luxembourgian secondary school diploma stating the proficiency level. For this, please contact gspinfo@mail.uni-freiburg.de.

There is no knowledge of German required in order to be admitted to our programme and you do not need to upload any proof of German proficiency.

Your Bachelor’s diploma should include the diploma certificate, the diploma supplement and a complete transcript of records. Your documents must be translated to English (or German). When you enrol at the university of Freiburg (Immatrikulation), the original, or an officially certified copy of the document must be presented. If your documents were translated, you need to present the officially certified translation as well as the officially certified or original document.

For further information on the official certification of documents, please carefully read the guide provided by the Service Center Studium.

If you are not finished with your Bachelor’s degree at the time of sending your application, please submit a certified Transcript of Records and an official interim certificate issued by your university. This interim certificate has to state that you have completed your Bachelor’s degree within the past 12 months.

If you do not have your official diploma yet, please submit a certified Transcript of Records and an official interim certificate issued by your university. This interim certificate has to state that you will officially complete your previous studies before April 1st (beginning of first GSP semester).

In both cases, the official diploma, or a certified copy thereof, must be presented when enrolling at the University of Freiburg (Immatrikulation).

If you have both a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree please upload both of your diplomas and both of your transcripts. Since the Bachelor’s degree qualifies you for admittance to the Global Studies Programme, the documents from your Bachelor’s degree are central to your application. 

In addition to your letter of motivation, you are required to submit an essay addressing a specific topic. This topic changes every year. The topic for the 2027 intake is the following:

Discuss how recent events illustrate the ways in which global crises, uncertainties, and risks are experienced, negotiated, or contested in different social contexts. Draw on one example from your own background (e.g. personal experiences, recent events in your home country or country of residence).

When reviewing your essay, we will pay particular attention to the originality of your ideas. We encourage you to include references to personal experiences, and expect you to support your argument with academic literature.

The essay should be maximum 800 words in length, excluding references. Please include a word count at the end of the document.

This task is intended to assess your independent thinking and ability to apply concepts to real-world developments. Do not use generative AI tools to produce your answer as this will not fulfil the assignment’s requirements. Please be aware that we receive a large number of applications every year. Across these applications, stark parallels in topic selection and phrasing often render AI use visible or will, at the very least, prevent your application from standing out.

Please upload a short signed statement confirming that you wrote your essay and motivation letter yourself. This statement is required for your application to be considered complete, as part of our selection regulations. There is no template but we suggest an informal letter stating the following: “I hereby confirm that the letter of motivation and the essay have been composed by me and are my own work, unless stated otherwise.” This is sufficient, as long as the letter clearly refers to both the essay and the motivation letter, and is signed. It should be uploaded as a separate pdf file on HISinOne.

This only concerns applicants from India, China, Vietnam, and Mongolia:

In order to apply for a study visa to Germany, it is mandatory to have your testimonials verified by the APS. It is recommended to start the process with APS as early as possible. The Admissions Office requires that the APS must be presented before the application deadline.

More information: https://www.aps.org.cn/ and https://aps-india.de/

The online application platform for the Global Studies Programme intake 2027 will be open from September 15th, 2026. The application deadline is November 30th, 2026.

• Register for the Online Application Platform HISinOne (if you do not have an account with the Campus Management system of the University of Freiburg yet)
• Complete the Online Application by uploading your application documents to the platform by November 30th.

You can find more information on the website of the Service Center Studium.

The selection and admission process consists of two parts:

1. Programm admission by the GSP selection committee

This concerns your qualification and motivation with regard to the GSP curriculum and the programme objectives.

2. Formal admission to the University by the Admissions Office at the Service Center Studium

This concerns the formal completeness of your application and the verification of your university entrance qualifications, such as your Bachelor’s degree and your language certificates.

• You will be notified before December 24th if you have been selected and whether you fulfil all formal requirements prescribed by the University. You will further receive a preliminary letter of acceptance so that you can start you visa process right away.
• As we have a waiting list, we would kindly ask you to accept your seat on HisInOne as a definitive confirmation that you will join the Programme starting in April. Please confirm the offered seat as soon as possible, but no later than on 6th of January. 

After applying to the Global Studies Programme, please check your spam folder regularly. It can happen that emails are not directly received by the applicants. After confirming your seat you will be informed as soon as you can start your online enrollment on HISinOne.